Black Stars and Dark Horses

The world cup has started and the context is very different in that it is being played in an atmosphere in which all African teams are going to experience home field advantage. They will receive solid crowd support. That is where the advantage ends and the usual realities of the World Cup for African teams begin.

Gone are the days when our 54 countries had to vie for one spot in the finals. We now have an opportunity to be properly represented and display the talent which speaks to Africa's long football tradition. The sheer will to win and the belief that we are worthy of the FIFA trophy is where the Black Stars psychological preparation should have started. If you enter the tournament, satisfied with simply being there, there is no likelihood of victory.

We could have won the last World Cup but for our psychological preparation and the fact that as a team and a nation, we were simply happy to see our national colours being displayed.

The African quotient in international club football speaks to our collective talent but that is not enough. The Black Stars should be functioning as a team by now. That is, the players should have the camaraderie of a team of men with one clear goal in mind even before they arrive on the field. The goal should be supported by a specific strategy to beat each team we face in the first round if our initial goal is to make it to the quarter finals. Then we set a new approach based on what is ahead. That is in Milo's hands. The rest is in the minds of the players. The coach can get the team there but he cannot play the game for his players.

Off field discipline is just as important, if not more important than discipline during play. So far our coach has been steadfast in this area. No player is more important than the team and the team itself is larger than the 11 men on the field because their synergy and spirit of play extend beyond their mere physical presence on the pitch.

There are a number of cultural attitudes that emerge on the field of play which we must expunge from our repertoire to become winners. First, we must play aggressively with the attitude that each match is a war. We must not defer or concede anything to anyone. We must fight for every possible advantage, no matter how small because it all adds up to victory in the end. We must end our “Let's wait and see attitude.”

We must play for the full 90 minutes, not for 80, 85 or 89 minutes. Many of our failures have come at the end because our players tend to lose focus towards the end. Many of our losses have been in the dying minutes. The U17 semi-final between Ghana and Spain in 2007 is a recent example but the archives are replete with many more. They are dying minutes not dead minutes. The game is still on.

We should stop looking to the referee for breaks because in the World Cup the officiating is usually biased against Africans. We get more yellow and red cards than other countries. We should assume the referee is not impartial and get on with it. No amount of begging will help here. The officials have historically not been on our side. The tapes are there for all to see.

Most important, the players must know their football heritage, they must know their history. They should know that they are living the dream that players from Derby of the Gold Coast and the early continental champion Black Stars fought so long for. They must connect with Edward Acquah, Dodoo Ankrah, Aggrey-Fynn, Mohamed Salisu, Offei-Dodoo,Baba Yara,Abukari, Agyeman Gyau,Yaw Sam, Joe Sam, Abdul Razak, Malik Jabir, Peter Lamptey, Wilberforce Mfum, George Alhassan and many more of the Black Stars football “ancestors” to guide them to a richly deserved victory. We have a young team for the Beautiful Game. Ghana has got to believe!

The Black Stars are regarded by many analysts as the Dark Horse team to win the World Cup. We should for once believe in ourselves like we did as a nation in the 20th century and achieved the impossible in 1957. What began in Ghana ended with the emancipation of South Africa. Need I say more?

Dr. T. P. Manus Ulzen
June 12, 2010

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